


Call Me Curious

by carissima



Category: One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 11:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carissima/pseuds/carissima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick and Louis hate each other. Except there's also flirty texts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call Me Curious

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt: They flirt through texts while pretending they hate each other. Simple.

Louis loves being home. After a long tour, he loves coming home and staying in bed all day, or going home and seeing his mum and sisters and letting them look after him for a while. He loves seeing all his old friends and not being Louis Tomlinson from One Direction, but just being Louis for a while.

And he likes heading to one of the boys' houses for dinner, because otherwise he'd starve or exist on takeaways and that's not exactly healthy for a popstar with a schedule like theirs. Like right now, for example, he's lying on Harry's sofa, groaning as he rubs his belly in appreciation for the fine roast Harry's just fed him.

"Room for dessert?" Harry asks as he flops down and stretches out on the other sofa.

"Not a chance, mate," Louis groans. "I'm stuffed."

"One of us is going to have to move in a minute," Harry sighs with his eyes closed. "Grimmy's coming over. And I don't think he'll sit on the floor."

Louis groans again, but this time it's with real feeling. The last person he ever wants to see, at any given time, is Nicholas Grimshaw. Honestly, it's like Harry wants to torture him. He doesn't see why Harry is so enamoured with him, or why he insists on spending time with the DJ. Louis just thinks he's awful. Horrible, really. And it has nothing to do with the fact that Nick hates Louis. Nothing at all.

"Why didn't you tell me that before I had that third helping of roast potatoes?" Louis whines, because honestly he thinks that's the reason his tummy is protruding slightly and he's going to find it difficult to stand up.

"I wish the two of you would just try and get along," Harry sighs, not for the first time. He diplomatically chooses to ignore Louis' eye roll. "He's great, honestly Lou."

"He might be great to you, but he's an absolute jerk to me," Louis mutters as he attempts to sit up, wincing as his stomach protests.

When the doorbell rings, Louis' face drops into a scowl and he gets to his feet a bit quicker, ignoring the pain in his stomach as he grabs his jacket.

"Thanks for lunch, Harry, but I think it's best if I make a move," Louis grimaces as he shrugs into his jacket. "I'll let him in on my way out."

"You don't have to leave!" Harry calls after him, the fond exasperation in his voice clear as a bell.

"Oh yes I do," Louis mutters to himself as he takes a deep breath, fixes a brash, obnoxious smile on his face and opens Harry's front door to be confronted by the man he may very well consider to be his nemesis.

"Hi Nick," Louis says brightly, refusing to use his nickname, mostly because he knows it annoys the hell out of him. "Just on my way out."

"Not on my account, I hope?" Nick asks, even though his grin suggests otherwise.

"Oh no, I'm just too popular," Louis says breezily. "That's what happens when you're a famous popstar. Which is exactly _why_ you hang around Harry, right? To pretend you're popular with all the people who want to hang around with Harry?"

"Yes, because all my friends are famous and I met them all through Harry," Nick says dryly with an eye roll for added benefit. "I honestly have no idea how I survived before him. There's no need to be jealous, darling. I'm sure someone, somewhere wants to hang out with you for your tiny bit of fame."

"I'm very comfortable knowing who my real friends are, Nick," Louis says as sweetly as he can manage when he mostly wants to smack that stupid smile of his face. "Very confident. I bet you can't say the same."

And with that, Louis sweeps past Nick in as dramatic fashion as he can manage when his tummy hurts from overfeeding and his head hurts from dealing with Nick.

He manages to get home safely, although he's a bit tired from all the exertion of eating and hating, so he puts the kettle on and makes a cup of tea before collapsing on his own tea.

He seriously considers sending a nasty text to Nick, because if he hadn't arrived, he could have had Harry looking after him all afternoon instead of having to fend for himself.

Ultimately he's just too lazy to pick another fight with Nick, so he dozes on the sofa while the football plays in the background. When his phone vibrates, he flails around for a bit before his hand lands on it and he brings it far too close to his face so that he's squinting through sleepy eyes.

It's from Nick.

Great.

He opens the message up, expecting something horrific that'll be repeated on air in the morning and will cause twitter to go on a rampage.

**Your ass looks great when you flounce**

And. Well.

That was unexpected.

He spends about five minutes reading and re-reading the text, wondering what the hell Nick's up to, because he's always up to something. He can see that it's still slightly insulting, and he absolutely does not _flounce_.

However, he's mostly confused by the flirting. Because Nick is absolutely flirting with him, Louis can see that. But _why_ , that's the question. And how should he respond? Should he just ignore him? Text him back something scathing and insulting? That's what he should do. He should absolutely ignore Nick and send something back to let him know that Louis is definitely not interested.

Except he kind of might be. Perhaps curious is a better adjective, he thinks absent-mindedly.

He takes much longer thinking up a reply than he's ever done with a text message before, but he has to word this just right or else he risks being mocked on air, being teased forever by Nick because it's some big joke or something else equally shitty.

**Thanks. You're kind of cute when you're trying to be witty and funny**

He hits send and immediately regrets it, worrying about what ammunition he might have just handed Nick.

His gaze keeps flickering back to his phone so much that he gets up in disgust and deliberately leaves it on the side while he makes tea and puts a load of washing on. He deliberately ignores his phone, even when it vibrates three times, while he watches the match on TV.

After an hour, he gives in. He skips past texts from Harry and Liam and looks at the one from Nick because he's got absolutely zero willpower.

**Only kind of cute? You'll make me cry, Tomlinson**

Louis' smiling before he realises it and forces his expression into a more neutral one, as if someone might be watching from inside his own house. But he can't help the small grin that's on his face as he types out his reply, a little more confidently this time.

**You'll just have to try harder next time we run into each other ...**

His phone stays silent for the rest of the night, but Louis doesn't really worry. He does tune in to Radio 1 in the morning though and listens to the whole show, just in case, but his name isn't brought up once.

He's a little disappointed, which is utterly absurd. But he finds Nick's voice more soothing than usual, which is just as ludicrous, and honestly he's starting to think Nick's just playing some long, drawn out joke that'll end with Louis being utterly humiliated.

Louis attempts to put the whole situation out of his mind, and he only occasionally finds himself re-reading Nick's texts. Just once or twice. A day.

He doesn't see Nick again until the following week when Harry drags him and Niall to a house party at Nick's. Louis protests loudly, but secretly he actually wants to go, mostly to see how Nick acts around him. Not that he's obsessed, or anything, but Nick is driving him crazy without even doing anything. He hasn't heard from him all week and his name hasn't come up once on Nick's show, when usually a few days can't pass without Nick finding the need to make some snarky comment about Louis.

He refuses to make any effort, choosing to wear his usual black jeans, toms and a band t-shirt, only doing the bare minimum with his hair and absolutely not staring in the mirror for 10 minutes, trying to decide whether to shave or not. In the end, he runs out of time anyway because Harry's at the door, pulling him into the taxi and he's soon busy catching up on what Niall's been up to before he realises that they're at Nick's place. He pushes away the nervousness that he can feel creeping up on him and he vows to completely ignore Nicholas Grimshaw, just like he usually does.

And he has definitely not chosen to wear the pair of jeans that make his ass look amazing because of a stupid text sent over a week ago that means absolutely nothing.

He's on his third drink, and he thinks he lost Harry and Niall about half an hour ago, when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He knows who it is before he even turns, and if his pulse speeds up a little, then no one else has to ever know.

"Nick," Louis says in a flat tone, staring somewhere over Nick's stupidly high shoulder.

The silence stretches out for long enough that Louis drops his gaze to actually look at Nick.

He's got a little smile playing on his lips, but Louis doesn't notice at first because Nick just looks really, really good. He's got dark skinny jeans on with a dark t-shirt, somewhat mirroring him, Louis thinks idly, except Nick's got his hair styled up in some gravity-defying quiff that Louis admires perhaps a little too much. He has to bite back a snarky comment just on principle alone.

"Did you come over just to ignore me in person?" Louis asks eventually when Nick stays silent for longer than Louis can bear.

Nick reaches out and rests his hand on Louis' hip. Startled, Louis shifts but he ends up moving closer and he finds himself ending up closer to Nick.

"Hi," Nick says in a slightly gruffer voice than usual.

Confused, Louis stares up at him with a small frown on his face. "Hey."

"Wasn't sure you'd come," Nick says, tightening his grip slightly on Louis' hip and pulling him closer.

Louis lets his lips curve into a fuller smile, one that actually reaches his eyes. He sees Nick's gaze narrow in on his face and it makes his chest feel a little tight. "I was invited, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, but you don't normally come to these," Nick says, his thumb sneaking under Louis' shirt and brushing heated skin.

Louis absolutely cannot control the shiver than runs through him at Nick's touch. The whole situation is utterly crazy, Nick Grimshaw is actually touching Louis and Louis is actually letting him. They're kind of almost flirting in a corner of Nick's living room and no one is batting a bloody eyelid.

"Call me curious," Louis says lightly.

Nick grins. "Yeah? Me too."

Louis' about to speak, to ask what the hell is going on between them, why Nick's suddenly interested in Louis after years of tormenting and barbed comments, when Nick's hand drops and he steps back slightly. His lips shift into a smirk and Louis frowns, because he really hates Nick's smirk. It's just so ... fake.

"Hi Harry."

Louis spins around and oh. That's why.

"You're not fighting again are you?" Harry asks with a slightly pained expression.

"Of course not," Nick says smoothly, shifting his body slightly as if he's blocking Louis. "Your little friend was just telling me how lovely my place is and how he wishes his place was this nice."

Confused, Louis shoves Nick a little to give him space to step forward, away from Nick. "Yeah, I love all the pretentious art, Nick. Suits you perfectly."

Nick grins, and Louis almost forgets what they seem to be doing here because he just looks delighted. "And I suppose your place is covered in teabags and comic book art for emo teenagers."

Louis has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing, because honestly Nick is pretty funny sometimes, even when he's being insulting. Or trying to be insulting, Louis corrects himself quickly.

Harry drags Louis away and he spends most of the rest of the night sneaking glances at Nick across the room, sometimes passing him in the hallway or on the stairs. Louis is definitely not imagining the way Nick brushes up against him when he gets the chance, and he knows _he's_ doing his best to wind Nick up by trailing his hand across Nick's arm or waist or wherever his hand happens to end up as they pass each other. And judging by the grins Nick shoots his way when no one's looking, whatever Louis is feeling, Nick's feeling it too.

Louis isn't sure whether he's upset or not when Harry pulls him to the door without saying goodbye to Nick, probably trying to avoid another uncomfortable squabble. Mostly he just wants to talk to Nick about what the hell they're doing and why they're doing it.

Louis is in his pyjamas, drinking a cup of tea as he settles in front of the TV to watch late night trash when his phone vibrates.

Louis takes his time to place his mug down on the table and slowly picks up his phone.

Nick.

**So any advances on kinda cute? x**

Louis grins as he remembers how good Nick looked tonight. He wonders if Nick really did make an effort to impress him.

**Maybe x**

Louis settles back against his sofa with his tea in one hand and his phone in the other and waits with a smile playing on his lips.

**You wound me, Louis. I got lots of compliments tonight from some very cute guys x**

Louis rolls his eyes. He wasn't expecting Nick to be kind of needy.

**Perhaps you should be texting one of them instead then x**

Louis thinks the kiss at the end of the text softens the tone. He hopes it does, anyway.

**Perhaps, but I don't want to text any of them. I like texting you x**

His grin is stupidly big.

**And what about what we were doing before we were interrupted? x**

He waits impatiently but Nick's fast, the reply comes through almost immediately. Louis wonders if Nick's doing the same thing he is, just waiting to receive texts.

**I liked that even more x**

Louis stands up and starts to pace, taking deep breaths as he walks. He doesn't know what they're doing but he kind of likes it and he kind of wants to kiss Nick's face off right now.

In the end, he just switches off his phone and goes to bed, where he tosses and turns all night, thinking about Nick.

Louis spends most of the next day thinking about Nick, to the point where he's annoying himself and he decides to invite himself around to Harry's, unannounced. And well, if Nick happens to be there on the off-chance, all the better.

As luck would have it, Nick is at Harry's. Louis knows from the slight wince Harry makes as he opens the door, before he covers it with a loud, welcoming greeting and a bear hug that Louis barely makes it out alive from.

"Hey Haz, can I get a cuppa?" Louis asks innocently as he takes off his jacket and dumps it on the floor, grinning as Harry frowns at the mess before picking it up and hanging the jacket up properly. "My throat is killing me."

"Yeah, of course," Harry says with a worried look at Louis. "Are you coming down with something?"

"Oh, I hope not," Louis brushes off Harry's concern, seeing as he doesn't have a sore throat at all, but he presses a gentle kiss on Harry's cheek before Harry heads for the kitchen.

"Nick's here, play nice!" he calls over his shoulder.

Louis tries not to think about exactly how nicely he wants to play with Nick as he steps into the living room and he's face-to-face with exactly who he really wanted to see. Not that he'd ever admit it to another living soul.

"Hi," he says quietly, standing awkwardly in the doorway as he looks down at Nick, lounging on the sofa.

"Hey," Nick says and there's a smile in his voice. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, fancy that," Louis says, but there's no sarcasm in his voice for once. "Enjoy your party last night?"

"Yeah, it was fun," Nick says, his gaze firmly on Louis, who feels like shifting his weight from one foot to the other, for some reason. "Some interesting developments."

"Oh?" Louis finally moves forward and hesitates before taking a seat next to Nick on the sofa. "Like what?"

Nick glances at the door before he reaches over and lets his fingers trail down the back of Louis' hand. "Like this."

Louis bites his lip as he watches Nick trace a pattern on his hand. His heart is pounding, which is crazy because it's just a touch, but he slowly turns his palm over and Nick's fingers interlink with his, until they're sitting there, on Harry's sofa, holding hands. He's holding hands with Nick Grimshaw and the world hasn't ended.

Louis raises his eyes from where they'd been staring at their locked hands, Nick's larger one covering Louis' smaller hand, to look at Nick. He doesn't even try to bluff his way through this moment, because honestly he's not sure that even he can do that. Nick's not laughing though, as Louis was half-expecting him to be. In fact, Nick looks more serious than Louis' ever seen him.

"Nick -" Louis' interrupted by Harry's footsteps getting closer and they jump apart. Louis looks up at Harry and grins as he takes the offered cup of tea. "You're the best, Harry."

"Yeah, I know," Harry says as he flops onto a chair and stretches his legs out. "You two playing nice?"

"As nice as we can manage," Nick says and Louis hides his smile in his cup.

Harry turns the Great British Bakeoff on, as it's apparently Nick's favourite show. Louis has no idea, because honestly who has time for baking shows when you're on tour? Except that Harry knows all of the contestants and Nick gives a running commentary, to which Louis feels compelled to roll his eyes at and pretend to find it really annoying, in between moments when Nick presses his leg against Louis' thigh when Harry's engrossed in the TV, or when they both look over and catch each other's gazes, or when Harry disappeared to go to the bathroom and Nick reached for Louis' hand again.

It was all very confusing but Louis kind of loved it.

"Well, I need to go home and get my beauty sleep," Nick says finally, standing up and stretching.

Louis carefully avoids his gaze.

Nick says his goodbyes, barely acknowledging Louis as he heads out the door.

Louis waits five minutes, then makes his own exit, promising Harry that he'll look after himself and tuck himself into bed as soon as he gets home with some hot lemon and painkillers. With a fond smile, Louis walks out the door and walks around the corner. He's not surprised to find Nick standing there, phone in hand and the other tapping back against the wall he's idly tapping.

"Fancy seeing you here," Louis says, tongue firmly in cheek.

"Was just about to leave," Nick says lazily, before he reaches out to tug Louis closer. Louis stumbles forward until he's locked between Nick's legs. His hands rest on Nick's chest, which is surprisingly firm and a little broader than he's expecting, while Nick's hands rest on his waist.

"I'm not stopping you," Louis says with a slight glower, although he leans into Nick's warmth just slightly.

"You are though," Nick says quietly, his thumbs rubbing small circles into Louis' hips. "You're totally distracting me."

"Well, when you put it like that," Louis says thoughtfully, smiling to himself as he shifts closer, "I might as well do it properly."

Louis sees Nick's grin as he reaches up to hook his hand behind Nick's head and tugs him down, their lips crashing together as Louis pushes up to get a better angle. He hears Nick swear quietly before he feels Nick's hands on his ass and lifting him up so they're locked together. Louis can feel Nick's whole body pressed up against his and he just wants to climb him like a fucking tree.

Nick's a much better kisser than Louis thought he'd be. Not that he'd really ever thought about it, of course. But while Nick's tongue swirls around his own, Louis' hands fist around Nick's shirt and he makes a small whining noise that Nick seems to be able to interpret because he wraps his arms around Louis' waist and lifts him up a little so that Louis' on his tiptoes but it's better like this. When Louis shifts back, breaking the kiss, he's panting and his heart is racing. Nick looks a little shaky himself, but he distracts himself by pressing kisses down Louis' neck, making him shiver. Little moans escape his lips as Nick's hands stroke his back and he's desperately trying to remember that they're two fairly well-known celebrities, making out quite openly on a London street, just outside the home of another well-known celebrity and perhaps this isn't the best place for them to be, doing this.

Except Nick's lips are teasing his collarbone and Louis can't concentrate on anything except the way he wants to grind up against Nick.

"Fuck," Nick swears against Louis' skin and he leans back against the wall, his hands still on Louis' waist. Louis leans his head against Nick's chest and tries to even out his breathing, although he's still pretty breathless. "We shouldn't do this here."

Louis nods, but he doesn't move.

"And I really do need to get up early," Nick murmurs, which would get Louis' hackles rising at the self-important tone he can't seem to help but use, except Nick's hands are slipping under his jumper and stroking his heated skin, and all Louis wants to do is squirm closer.

"Hmm," Louis hums as he forces himself to open his eyes and step back, putting some much-needed space between them.

Nick watches Louis as they both straighten their dishevelled clothes. "You should learn to keep your hands to yourself," Louis says archly, before ruining the moment with a bark of laughter as Nick makes to grab him again.

"You should stop looking so carelessly sexy then," Nick says, and Louis can't help the flush that creeps across his face.

"That's such a lame line, Nicholas." Louis tries to stop that stupid fond tone he can hear from creeping into his voice but he doesn't think he quite manages it.

"I'm driving home, do you need a lift?" Nick offers, reaching out to brush Louis' hair back in the way Louis used to wear his hair. Well, Louis thinks that's an interesting insight.

"Nah, I'm gonna walk," Louis says lightly. He thinks a walk will do him good, let him clear his thoughts and figure out what the hell they're doing.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" Nick says and it's almost an invitation.

Louis just nods. Nick seems to hesitate before he ducks to press a fierce kiss against Louis' mouth before turning and heading down the street. Louis watches him disappear, totally confused and perhaps, he thinks, perhaps a little bit in love. The stupid giant bastard.

He takes the long way home and he's still a bit confused by the whole situation, to be honest. It's not like Nick's trying to date him, or even get him into bed. He's just flirting and now they seem to be kissing, but that's it. It's hurting his head too much to try and work out the intricacies of Nick Grimshaw's twisted mind, so Louis shoves the whole mess to one side and heads for bed. And if he has a quick wank before falling asleep, his eyes closed and his traitorous mouth shouting out Nick's name when he comes hard and fast, then no one has to know.

When he wakes up in the morning and switches on the radio to hear Nick talking about some new band, he definitely doesn't smile and think it's adorable how he fondly mocks Finchy on air. And when he checks his phone and sees a text that came through at 5.58am, he is absolutely not endeared. Not at all.

**Morning! Hope you have a good day. See you soon??? x**

Louis ums and ahs over whether to send Nick a text inviting him round, but he decides against it until he's a bit less confused about Nick and how he feels about him.

**Don't be too mean to Finchy, I think he might cry. Perhaps next time we can have a conversation? x**

He jumps in the shower while he gives Nick a chance to reply. By the time he's dressed and towelling his hair before throwing the towel down on the floor where the rest of his stuff lives, his phone is flashing with a message.

**So you're listening then? Should I dedicate a song to your pretty mouth? And are you suggesting we go on a date? x**

**I might have stumbled onto your terrible show this morning. Don't you dare, and not a chance, Nicholas x**

Louis makes breakfast and dreams of skipping the day of interviews he has ahead. But sadly he can't, and not even Nick's terrible attempts at flirting can lift his mood when he realises just how many hours he's going to be spending answering the same question over and over again while trying to cause as much mischief as possible to distract them all from the tedium that takes over about five minutes into the start of the interviews.

When the next song on the radio is Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire, Louis actually groans into his hands before he makes a mental note to mock Nick endlessly, whether he played it on purpose or not.

**Have a good day, popstar x**

And well, Louis doesn't know what to say to that, so he doesn't say anything.

The interviews go as well as can be expected, even if Louis is more wound up than usual. He checks his phone after each interview but it stays stubbornly quiet.

"Alright Lou?" Harry asks him after a particularly fidgety interview.

"Yeah," Louis replies distractedly. Honestly, what could Nick be so busy doing that he can't send a flirty text?

Huffing, he types a quick text and sends it before he can talk himself out of it.

**Your hair is stupid.**

He doesn't even include a kiss this time because he thinks it'd detract from the devastating insult he's just thrown at Nick.

His phone vibrates.

**You're stupid. Dinner at mine tonight? x**

He's being called over for the next interview but he shoots off a text anyway, ignoring the annoyed runner trying to hurry him up because he's arranging a date with Nick and that means they'll almost certainly do some more kissing and probably more and that is vital to Louis' well-being right at this particular moment.

**I'll be at yours by 7, which is enough time for you to get a less stupid haircut x**

The next interview goes a lot more smoothly.

He calls ahead to ask Nick to open the door so he's not hanging around - a paparazzi photograph of Louis entering Nick's house dressed nicely and not coming back out for a few hours, or maybe even all night if Louis has his way, isn't exactly what either of them want. So when Louis forsakes perfect hair for privacy and shoves a hat as far down as he can manage and pulls the collar of his jacket up, he feels proper sneaky and slips into Nick's place with little fuss.

He pulls the hat off and shrugs out of the jacket, before turning to face Nick, who just takes everything from Louis and throws it on the stairs with a grin.

"Hey popstar," he says brightly. "Proper James Bond, that was."

"Yeah, you sort of become an expert at hiding after a while," Louis says offhand. "Unless of course you're the kind of minor celebrity who loves getting papped."

"Only on my good days, love," Nick says and it's possibly the first time Nick hasn't snapped at Louis for a similar comment. "How was your day?"

"Long, tedious and repetitive," Louis says with a roll of his eyes.

"Sounds horrible," Nick sympathises as he places a hand on Louis' back and guides him to the kitchen where Nick's laid on dinner. Louis sits, a little surprised at how good dinner smells and how cosy Nick's kitchen can be, considering he normally sees it late at night, with far too many drunk people squeezed into it. He couldn't decide if Nick was going to try and impress him or just order a takeaway and sit in front of the telly, so this is a nice compromise, Louis thinks.

Dinner goes fairly smoothly. Nick tells funny stories from the breakfast show and some lunch meeting he had with Colette and Louis tells Nick about all the funny things they said in the interviews today and how he and Niall managed to sneak Liam's phone from him and tweeted absolute rubbish for a good 10 minutes before Harry nudged Liam to show him what they'd been tweeting on his own phone and now he and Niall were in talks about how to get their revenge on Harry.

Nick thinks it's hilarious and offers a few suggestions of his own, which Louis files away for later because there's a possibility that he and Nick could become absolute menaces for Harry if they put their heads together.

Louis makes tea while Nick shoves everything into the dishwasher and Louis can really get behind that kind of clearing up, considering his own bad habits with cleaning and tidying. When Louis hands Nick his tea, he gets a "thanks love" in return that makes his tummy turn over. And when Nick sits on the sofa and pats the space next to him, Louis sits and deliberately snuggles up to Nick, grumbling until Nick lifts his arm and Louis slots into his side, legs curled up next to him as he sips his tea and complains about Eastenders. To his credit, Nick mostly ignores him but every now and again, Louis can feel Nick's grip on his arm tighten and Louis thinks it's kind of nice, what they're doing.

If only he knew, exactly, what that was.

Slightly bored now and feeling antsy, Louis puts his cup on the table and extracts Nick's mug from his hands and puts it with his. Ignoring Nick's protests about how he wasn't finished, Louis crawls into Nick's lap and straddles him. He knows he looks all soft and pliant, because that's what he's going for. And despite Nick's protests that he's desperate to find out what happens on Eastenders, his hands are on Louis' thighs and his mouth is trying not to lift into a grin.

So Louis has no choice really but to kiss Nick senseless.

When he feels Nick's hands tighten on his thighs, he knows it's working. Although he's kind of losing perspective himself as he buries his hands in Nick's stupid quiff and angles his head so he can slot his mouth more perfectly against Nick's.

"Your hair is still stupid," he breathes between kisses. Nick slides his tongue into Louis' mouth and it's an effective way to shut him up, to be honest.

Nick's mouth is lethal, Louis thinks blindly as he fists his hands around Nick's hair and does his best to really mess it up. When he pulls back, he's grinning because Nick's hair really does look ridiculous now but Louis likes it much better.

Nick just laughs and pushes his mop back, reaching up to nip at Louis' collarbone. "You really hate my hair then."

"Well, it _is_ stupid," Louis murmurs with a grin before he's diving back down into another kiss.

When they're both breathless and panting, Louis drops his head so he can press bruising kisses down Nick's neck, choosing his spot carefully before he bares his teeth and sinks into Nick's flesh. The moan Nick makes only urges him on and he sucks harder, determined to mark Nick in some way as his, even if they're the only ones who know and even if it's only for tonight because Louis' feeling a bit primeval.

When he finally lifts his head, he just stares at the red mark, wondering how long it'll be before the bruise appears. He brushes his thumb carefully over the skin, hearing Nick wince a little and he silently congratulates himself before he's back focusing on Nick's stupid mouth, kissing him a bit more gently this time.

He realises he's rocking his hips gently and that Nick's guiding him just as gently, but that's not what Louis wants at all. So he pushes down harder, grinding down hard and he feels Nick shudder underneath him, and _that's_ what he wants. So he does it again, balancing himself with his hands on Nick's shoulders. Nick's hands tighten around his hips and Louis lets out a little whine at how good this feels.

When Nick's hands slide up and grab the hem of Louis' shirt, he helps Nick pull it over his head and he can see Nick's eyes running over his chest. When he leans forward and puts his mouth on him, Louis closes his eyes and lets his thumbs drift into Nick's hair, stroking gently as Nick presses kiss after kiss against his skin.

Nick's shirt soon follows Louis' and it's a struggle to get their jeans off, partly because they're both hard and partly because Louis doesn't want to get off Nick's lap and Nick's jeans are foolishly tight. But they manage somehow and Louis is far too worked up to head for Nick's bedroom, so he slides down onto the floor and tugs Nick's boxers off, his eyes lighting up as he takes in the sight of Nick's hard cock, grinning foolishly as Nick throws his head back and groans.

"This is going to be embarrassingly quick," Nick mutters.

Louis can't hide his delight as he strokes Nick gently. "Well, that's what happens when you've spent three years wanting my mouth on your cock."

"Yeah," Nick agrees before his head snaps up and he's staring down at Louis, who's just staring back at him.

Fuck if that doesn't make Louis a little more desperate to get his lips around Nick, so he does, sliding down until Nick's almost fully in his hot, tight mouth. He hears Nick groan and he wraps his tongue around Nick, sucking gently before he pulls back and then starts a quick rhythm, feeling Nick's thighs shake a little under his hands. Louis moves his hand to hold the base of Nick's dick as he sucks, hollowing out his cheeks and pushing down as far as he can, letting his thumb press the underside of Nick's cock with every bob until he feels Nick stiffen underneath him. Nick's hand is in his hair, tugging hard but Louis stays where he is, feels Nick coming hard in his mouth and he swallows what he can, pulling off and wiping the rest of Nick's come off with his hand and licking it clean, looking at Nick through his eyelashes as Nick watches him, spellbound and languid.

"My turn," Louis says resolutely as he climbs back into Nick's lap and puts Nick's hand on his aching cock. Nick's laughter is quiet but he slips his hand into Louis' boxers and strokes Louis gently. "I don't think this'll last long either."

Nick just hums, leaning up to press a sloppy, messy kiss on Louis' lips as his grip tightens, stroking Louis painfully slowly until Louis whines and presses up against Nick. He takes mercy and speeds up and it's not long at all before Louis' coming over Nick's chest before he falls forward, Nick catching him and holding him up to avoid more mess.

Nick drags Louis into the shower where they grind slowly against each other while they get cleaned up, but it's just a pleasant way to rile each other up rather than an attempt for round two.

When Nick throws a pair of his pyjama bottoms and an old t-shirt at Louis, he figures it's an invite to stay the night so he pulls them on and heads for Nick's bed, getting under the covers and waits for Nick to join him. When he does, Louis snuggles in close because really he's a very good snuggler and although Nick's a bit stiff at cuddling, Louis thinks they can probably work on it.

He wakes up to an empty bed, which doesn't surprise him as Nick has to get to work. But there's a message on his phone.

**Help yourself to brekkie. Soz had to go to work. You're adorable when you sleep x**

Louis just hopes he didn't drool, because Liam tells him he does all the time.

**I've just eaten all your food, sorry. Let me know how you want me to repay you x**

He's home, still dressed in Nick's t-shirt although he put his own jeans back on, before Nick replies.

**I'll think of something. Party at mine tomorrow, will you be there? x**

Louis takes a shower, determined not to text back like an overly eager puppy each time. In fact, he gets all the way to the interview studio before he texts back.

**I can probably swing by x**

**Good. Try really hard x**

Louis thinks it can probably be arranged.

He's a little surprised when Niall and Liam decide to come to Nick's with him and Harry, because honestly they don't hang in the same crowds at all, but Louis just rolls with it. Niall and Harry disappear as soon as they arrive, leaving him and Liam to find drinks and a quiet corner where Louis can mock all of Nick and Harry's hipster friends and Liam can listen and laugh in the right places while gently scolding him when Louis gets a bit carried away.

And the entire time, Louis knows exactly where Nick is and who he's talking to and how many drinks he's had. Louis thinks it's really very important to have all this information.

He's caught Nick's eye a few times, but they've barely acknowledged each other. It's best all round, Louis' decided and he can see why Nick doesn't make it public knowledge that they now apparently kiss and feel each other up and have sleepovers. Or just one sleepover, but Louis is really hoping for more because the last one was wonderful.

He's about three drinks in when he heads to the bathroom, deciding to sneak into Nick's en-suite because really, he should get some perks for being Nick's sex buddy. When he opens the door to leave, Nick's there pushing him back in and slamming the door behind them, his lips fastening onto Louis' and bruisingly firm. Louis feels himself slam into the sink but he simply hoists himself up until his legs are wrapped around Nick's waist and his arms are around his neck, and that's much better because Nick's hands are cupping his ass and squeezing gently while he assaults Louis' mouth and Louis wonders if he can come just from doing this and with a little bit of help from Nick's clever hands.

Except Nick pulls back, panting a little as he leans back against the door and Louis slides down to the ground, making sure to plaster himself against Nick just to torture them both a little.

When he pulls back, it's to look at the lovebite he left on Nick's neck and he's pleased to see that it's very visible and very ugly. He hopes Nick's had lots of questions about it and perhaps even a pap shot that he can cut out and pin on Nick's fridge.

"Hey," Nick says finally.

Louis grins as he presses a quick kiss against Nick's mouth. "Hi."

"Did you have a nice day?" Nick asks, brushing his thumb across Louis' lips.

"Bit tired," Louis says slowly as Nick grins stupidly. "You?"

"Yeah, I was a bit tired now you mention it," Nick says thoughtfully. "Maybe it was because I didn't sleep well last night."

"Missed me did you?" Louis asks, only half-teasing.

"Nah," Nick shakes his head before Louis rocks up into his tiptoes and bites Nick's lower lip quickly. "Maybe a little."

"Loser," Louis says with utter fondness before he pushes past Nick and leaves the room. "Don't miss me too much!"

He's barely sat back down with Liam when his phone vibrates.

**Have I told you lately that your ass looks amazing when you flounce? x**

Louis has to bite back the laughter. Honestly, Nick is surprisingly silly and cute and Louis wasn't expecting it at all. So it's hardly his fault that he's been blindsided by the whole situation and it's Nick's fault that he's sitting here being so fucking endeared by a stupid text.

**Have I told you lately that you're really cute? x**

He looks up and watches Nick across the room, reading his text. When Nick's gaze flies across to meet him, Louis just smiles a little and ducks his head, resuming his conversation with Liam.

Throughout the night, Nick's groped Louis twice in the kitchen, once outside when they were both pretending to get air and once more in the bathroom. Louis' beyond worked up at the number of times he's been hard and had no relief, and he's pretty sure Nick's the same. When the party starts to dwindle, Louis sends a quick text to Nick, asking him to meet him in the bedroom. He's pretty sure they can both get off in under five minutes, the way he's feeling right now.

When Nick slips inside, Louis jumps him and shoves him down onto the bed, climbing on after him. Their kisses are messy and far too wet but Louis doesn't care because he's finally got his hand down Nick's jeans and Nick's got his hand in Louis' trousers and there's finally some friction and relief. As predicted, their handjobs are terrible and last about three minutes, but Louis doesn't care very much because he's finally got what he wanted and perhaps he can stop being so wound up.

"That was terrible," Nick mumbles but he doesn't sound too upset about it either.

"Relax, you can try harder later," Louis says gruffly as he zips up his trousers and stands up, tugging Nick up as well. He's just in the middle of kissing Nick to say thank you and perhaps suggesting that he just stays over tonight after everyone's gone when the door opens. Louis freezes and he can feel Nick freeze as well. They pull apart slowly, but Louis keeps one hand on Nick's arm as he turns and comes face to face with Harry.

A delighted, grinning, giddy Harry.

Shit.

"Uh, it's not what it looks like?" Louis tries and even Nick laughs at that. Louis glares at him and tells him to shut up. Nick just looks down at him fondly, which is hardly helping the situation.

"I'm pretty sure it's exactly what it looks like," Harry says, his gaze resting on the bed where the sheets are rumpled. "I'm happy for you."

Louis groans as Nick rolls his eyes.

"See, you're perfect for each other!" Harry says happily. "Hey, Liam! Niall! Come here!"

"No!" Louis tries to stop him but Niall and Liam appear in the doorway and it takes them all of two seconds to figure out what Harry's yelling about.

"Oh, is this why you've been checking your phone every two seconds?" Liam says with a wide grin.

Nick's shaking next to him and Louis thinks he might kill Liam. Slowly.

"And why you've been stupidly happy recently?" Niall adds, laughing at Louis' discomfort.

"Okay, you've had your fun," Louis growls, letting go of Nick and heading to his three idiots. He grabs the door and shoves them back. "I'm going to repay each and every one of you for this." Then he shuts the door firmly on their giggles.

"Have fun with your boyfriend!" Harry yells through the door and Louis just wants to sink through the floor.

He feels Nick's hands on his waist, slowly turning him around.

"They're kidding," Louis tries, even though he can tell by Nick's stupid smirk that he's not buying it.

"Stupidly happy, hmm?" Nick teases, and Louis just scowls at him. "Hey, it's cool. I know I'm irresistible."

"Egotistical wanker," Louis mutters as he buries his head in Nick's chest. "With stupid hair."

"Hey," Nick says, forcing Louis to look up, flushed cheeks and everything. "If you happen to speak to Greg or Colette, they'd probably tell you that I've been glued to my phone for the past week or so. And Finchy would probably tell you that I've been stupidly upbeat for the past week at 6am, which is so unlike me."

Louis bites his lip because he absolutely doesn't want to laugh or grin. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Nick says with a long-suffering sigh. "And I really shouldn't tell you this because you'll never let me forget it, but I have kind of wanted you for the past three years. Even when you are an insufferable monster with childish tendencies."

"So really, _I'm_ the irresistible one," Louis muses, laughing when Nick tugs on his hair a little.

"I don't see you pushing me away," Nick says tartly as he starts to move Louis back towards the bed. "I think your lads will make sure we get some privacy."

Louis certainly hopes so. They do owe him, after all.


End file.
